The session’s winners were led by heavyweight Tenaris TENA.BA TS.N, the world’s largest maker of seamless steel tubes for the oil and natural gas industry, with an increase of 1.66 percent to 70.4 pesos per share.

“In light of oil values, Tenaris continued to lead the charge and we could see additional rises,” said Antonio Cejuela, an analyst at Puente Hermanos brokerage.

“Institutional investors gave the market a positive impulse,” he said.

“In the current conditions we could see the MerVal continue to rise toward the 2,190 points (technical) resistance (level),” said Cejuela.

Volume on the broad market totaled a moderate $37.1 million, and of the active issues, 58 advanced, 14 declined and 16 were unchanged.

Meanwhile, government debt prices rose 1.3 percent on average and the session’s biggest winners were the dollar-denominated Disc bond, which firmed 2.1 percent, and the Boden 2014 bond also in dollars with a 1.3 percent rise.

The peso closed steady at 3.1575/3.1600 per dollar ARS=RASL in formal interbank trade, where the central bank normally intervenes.

In informal trade between foreign exchange houses as measured by Reuters, the peso ARSB= dipped 0.08 percent to 3.1750/3.1775 per dollar. (Reporting by Walter Bianchi and Jorge Otaola; Writing by Gaspard Sebag; editing by Gary Crosse)